Registered Mental Health Clinician

Registered Mental Health Clinician

Registered Mental Health Clinician (Infant focused)

Maternal, Infant, Child, Adolescent Mental Health and Addiction Service (MICAMHAS)

Whanganui Hospital: Permanent 0.5 FTE

This role is rewarding and challenging and offers the opportunity to work with infants, young people and their whanau to help improve their mental wellbeing.

This role provides professional development and ongoing learning within a supportive Team and allows opportunities to help make a difference to infants and young people, ultimately contributing to positive outcomes.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

This role is a permanent position for two and a half days or 20 hours a week and is with the Maternal, Infant, Child, Adolescent Mental Health and Addiction Service (MICAMHAS).

The MICAMHAS Team are looking for an experienced Registered Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or Psychologist to join their Team.

This role will:

• provide high quality and effective professional mental health and addictions practice to infants, young people and their whanau, and will meet professional standards, legislative requirements, and Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora - Whanganui policy.
• provide client centred assessment, therapy-based interventions and evaluations to infants, young people/whanau to support their transition to wellness and to develop resilience.
• may include travelling to rural areas, such as, Taihape and Ohakune/Raetihi to provide services to young people and their whanau who reside in these areas.
• provide urgent assessments as part of an urgent roster.
• work alongside the Co-Existing Team, SUPP, to support and provide addiction interventions.
• include active participation in quality improvement projects and require building and maintaining strong relationships with other health and social sector providers.

About the Team/Service/Location

The MICAMHAS Team consist of Registered Social Workers, Registered Nurses, Clinical Psychologists, Co-existing alcohol and drug clinicians and Psychiatrists who work with young people aged between 0 and 18 with moderate to severe mental health issues. The service operates Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm.

MICAMHAS receives referrals from families, community agencies, self-referrals and other government agencies and uses the Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA) as their service model.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Whanganui serves an estimated population of 68,395 and includes residents of the Whanganui and Rangitikei Territorial Authority areas, as well as the Ruapehu Territorial Authority area wards of Waimarino and Waiouru – known as South Ruapehu.

The community we provide care to is semi-rural – rural with Māori making up 27.3% of our population (compared to the New Zealand average of 16.6%) and small but growing populations of Pacific and Asian people.

For more information on living and working in Whanganui click here

About You

You will have:

• an understanding of the impact of social determinants on infant, child and youth development and the importance of cultural connections while fostering a strength-based model of care.
• As Whanganui MICAMHAS uses the Choice and Partnership Approach as their service model, an understanding of this model would be preferable.
• A minimum of two years post-graduate experience is preferred – as one of the following: Registered Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist or Psychologist

The CAPA model includes team building days, promoting fun, professional relationships within the team.

The MICAMHAS Team values maintaining working relationships within our Whanganui community partners/agencies so working in collaboration is essential to ensure the best outcomes for infants, young people and their whanau.

The present team is very supportive of each other and is committed to best practice guidelines and improving outcomes, so participation and leadership in quality work is expected. Ongoing training and development is actively encouraged as well as having or working towards a Professional Development portfolio or equivalent.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community.

We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply please click "apply now." All applications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by 1 November 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Rochelle Warner, Acting Clinical Nurse Manager on Rochelle.Warner@wdhb.org.nz.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.